


Hey there, sunshine

by jazrigora



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, other characters will appear sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7551163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazrigora/pseuds/jazrigora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of solangelo oneshots to quench your thirsts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thank you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nico sneezes a lot.

Nico had always been able to sense death with a one-hundred percent success rate ever since he was small. He would feel it tingling through his body: from his toes, up to his wobbling legs, to his chest, and then a quiver up his spine. Lastly, it would tickle his nose until he let out a tiny, kitten-like sneeze.

“Salute,” someone would say, and young Nico would respond with a nod.

For a while, a scent would stay in his system, an aroma he couldn’t recognize for the longest time. But the same smell would always remain after that weird sensation he got. It wasn’t until he passed a group of people wearing black did he find the scent he was looking for.

“Bianca, do you smell that?” He asked.

“Yes, I do.” She responded.

“What’s that smell?”

Bianca, Nico’s older sister, peered over her shoulder to inspect the people who passed them. Her almond-like eyes were slim and her eyebrows were furrowed, a sure look of concentration.

“I think… it’s from those flowers.”

Nico looked up at Bianca expectantly.

“What kind?”

Bianca turned to look back at Nico.

“Sorry _fratellino_ , I can’t tell.” A sad smile grew on her face.   

“Oh…” Nico pouted as they kept on walking.

He found that scent again a few weeks later when they passed a flower shop.

“Achoo!”

“Come on Nico! Cover your mouth next time.”

“Sorry… Wait, uh, can we go to that flower shop over there?”

Nico pointed at the flower shop with a twinkle in his eyes, probably watery from the sneeze from earlier. Bianca sighed and said it was alright, she wanted to check out the pretty lilies, which were decorated neatly in a basket, anyways. When they entered, they found an old woman at the counter with a heartwarming expression; she greeted them kindly and gave them the daily recommendations and deals. Nico’s nose was at work similar to how a bloodhound hunts for prey. He was sniffing all over the place, making metal detector-like beeping noises. He suddenly made a fast staccato of beeps when he came across a collection of pink and orange flowers.

“I found it!” Nico exclaimed.

“Nico!”

Bianca apologized to the old woman and jogged over to where Nico was.

“Keep your voice down!”

“Sorry.” Nico said, but the guilt was gone immediately and he called over to the old woman loudly.

“ _Signora_ , what are those flowers called?”

The old woman softly chuckled and slowly staggered over to the flowers, with some assistance from Bianca.

“Those are called Chrysanthemums.”

Chrysanthemums. What a complex word yet, it rolled off the old woman’s tongue cleanly.

“Chrysanthemums.” Nico repeated playfully. It was fun to say.

“What a pretty name,” Bianca said in awe.

“Yes indeed.” The old woman’s lips curled mysteriously.

* * *

 

 Chrysanthemums.

Nico saw them again on top of a gravestone one rainy morning. He then ran to the flower shop to tell the old woman this, but she was gone. He returned to the gravestone and read the engraving:

Lokapele Caro

1852-1930

She grew the most beautiful flowers.

The white chrysanthemums shone with the light reflecting the raindrops on the petals and leaves; and with something else entirely. Even with the beautiful bouquet near him, Nico did not sneeze.

* * *

 

It was winter in Camp Half-Blood. Nico was sitting in the snow, looking hopefully at the area where Percy Jackson, Bianca di Angelo, and the others just left on their quest. They had been gone for a while, but Nico knew that they would be okay. After all, _Percy Jackson_ , the super strong demigod who saved his life, promised him that Bianca would be safe. He trusted him. Suddenly, there was a tingle, a shake, a quiver that went through his body. He was shivering so hard that he fell into the snow. And then, he sneezed. It echoed throughout the camp. Someone heard and said that familiar phrase:

“Gesundheit.”

The scent of chrysanthemums lingered, but there was something different this time. Water was dripping onto the snow and it wasn’t until he sat up straight that he noticed it was coming out of his eyes.

“Why am I crying?” Nico wondered out loud. He wiped the tears away and smiled weakly at the tearstains on the snow. The snow that was as white as the chrysanthemums on the graves.

* * *

 

“Achoo!”

Sniffle.

“A… A… Achoo!”

Will Solace entered the infirmary with a concerned look on his face.

“You alright di Angelo?” He brought over a box of tissues.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Nico took a tissue and blew into it. He cringed. Will frowned further.

“Yes Solace, I’m just peachy.”

“You don’t seem like you are.” Will pulled over a chair and sat next to the infirmary bed.

Yes, Nico di Angelo was not okay. He couldn’t stop sneezing. He couldn’t stop smelling the flowers, those wretched flowers, every day for the past three days. The war, of course, caused many casualties. The smell of the deaths of fellow demigods and monsters still remained even after the war ended. It was a fowl reminder that the battle against Gaea was disastrous. And it was much worse in the infirmary. This was a death zone, where the injured and dying lay and crawled around. But he couldn’t leave, Will Solace wouldn’t let him leave no matter how hard he tried.

_“No underworldly magic.”_

_“Three days in the infirmary.”_

This was mentioned over and over. And he was right, he was in no state to shadow travel. So he just lay there, in the too white infirmary room, surrounded by death.

“I hate this.”

“I know,” Will said smugly, “but you know that I’m doing this ‘cause I’m worried.”

“You shouldn’t be worried. I’m not dead or dying.” He bit back the “like everyone else”.

“But you almost were! You _emitted_ darkness from just your hand. You could have sunk into the darkness and never returned. You-“

“So what. It’s not like you can smell the dying,” Nico muttered bitterly.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

Will gazed at him curiously.

“So… what does death smell like?”

Nico stayed silent. He never talked about this with anyone. Everyone unconsciously knew that because he was the son of Hades, he would be able to sense death some way or another, so no one asked anyways. The only one who knew was Bianca but she was… gone, and even she never and never will know that the smell of chrysanthemum came when death was near. He should have realized this when he sneezed at the Lotus Hotel and – surprise – his mom was dead. He sneezed and people died. People died and he sneezed. Neither can be worse than the other, and sometimes he couldn’t tell if it’s one or the other. To sum it all up, he had always been near death and he hated that. He hated that most times he _knew but didn’t do anything about it._ It’s just as bad as killing the person themselves. And then… those flowers would be on their death bed, in a cruel sense of irony. Those… _those!_

“Chrysanthemums.”

Will raised one eyebrow inquiringly.

“Chrysanthemums.”

Nico let out a huge sigh and turned around, away from Will.

“When someone dies I just… I get all tingly and weird until I sneeze and then, I can only smell chrysanthemums. When everyone died around me, I could only smell chrysanthemums. I hate it. I hate it so much. It’s everywhere, just like death is everywhere. It haunts me, of what I could have done, of what I should have done.”

Nico sank lower into the bed. Will’s lips was set in a firm straight line. The room was filled with silence that weighed down on the both of them. Then, Will scooted his chair even closer towards the bed and bent over to give Nico a hug. He enveloped Nico with his warmth, his thoughts, his feelings, and his scent. He squeezed him so hard, that Nico could only smell Will. He smelled like medicine, sweat, and distinctly of the lunch he had earlier, but it was way better than the death scent, not that Nico would ever admit this. Eventually, Will let go and just gave Nico a huge grin.

“Y’know, I don’t know what chrysanthemums smell like but I think they smell nice.”

“I bet you don’t even know what a chrysanthemum is.”

“Shut up, I totally do.”

Nico laughed gently and said, “It’s a good thing you don’t.”

They continued bickering about absolutely nothing until Nico let out another sneeze.

“Achoo.”

Will giggled because _his sneezes were just so adorable sometimes._ Nico sniffled and looked up at Will with watery eyes, like he was waiting for something. Will rolled his eyes and huffed, but he was still grinning.

“Bless you.”


	2. Are you a mirror?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Will should be embarrassed.

“Good morning, good looking.”

“Good morning, you idiot.”

“I’ve got a lot to do today.”

“I know.”

“So, I should get a head start: first, a shower. See you again when I come back!”

“Not looking forward to it.”

Will Solace walked out of the room with a skip while humming a strange but familiar tune. A breath of relief. It was the start of the same routine, with only a few differences here and there. One semi-significant difference was that he said “good looking”, instead of “handsome daredevil”. Will was no daredevil. It would be pretty much the same from here on though. He would perform a One Direction song in the shower for about ten minutes, then he would come back to his room and get dressed. Lastly, he would cook himself breakfast and leave for work. He works as a surgeon at a nearby hospital, so he would come back late; there was never a time where he came back home earlier than his designated work time. It was a possibility that it was because he would work longer if there was ever an opportunity to. That just shows the amount of affection he has for his job.  

“I’m ba-ack!”

“Oh god.”

Will sauntered back in with only a towel around his waist. A sound of discomfort was released into the air but was never heard. He went through his clothes and grabbed a yellow t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. Strange. When going out to work, he would at least wear something a bit more sophisticated.

“Today’s a free day, just because I work myself too hard or something. Geez. I don’t! They better call me when something big happens. Anyways, I’m going on a date,”

Wide, surprised eyes.  

“Lou Ellen’s good buddy or something. This is probably a good date look, right?”

“No. Nope. Horrible. Please change.”

“Great! I’m gonna go now. Wish me luck!”

“I hope you trip on the way out.”

He didn’t, to one man’s disappointment. The man who was literally hiding in plain sight. Nico di Angelo was his name, and being trapped in a mirror for all of eternity was his unfortunate game. He traveled all around, being sold to people in antique shops and such. Seventy years had passed and no one had ever noticed his presence. Most of the time, it was a good thing. He was always placed in places such as bathrooms and bedrooms, both the most private places in a home. Which means, well, one can imagine what this means.

It wasn’t really Nico’s fault that he was in this predicament. He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. And now, he lives with the reality that there was no way he would ever be released into the world ever again.

Oh well, at least his present owner is cute.

Will Solace.

Nico hated to admit it but he’s his type.

He’s quite a looker with a nice bod (Nico _knows_ he has a nice bod). He’s sweet, charismatic, but a total dork. He loves his comics and his boy bands more than anything. And he talks to a mirror. He always talked to himself in a way that made Nico want to reply. And he did, softly of course, because his voice was so hoarse from not being used. He sighed. It would be some time before he would be back. And then… and then Will and his partner would probably be doing some stuff in the bedroom. Nico shook his head frantically. _Don’t think about that._ But in reality, one day, some lucky girl or guy would take Will’s virginity away. And Nico would have to watch. Something heavy settled itself inside Nico. He decided to take a nap, because there was no point staying awake anyways. It was pretty easy, since he was tired from staying up with Will every night when he came home late, and he was surrounded in darkness.

Will. The way he would always come home strong, even when a patient of his didn’t make it. Rarely would he cry, and when he did, something would always break inside of Nico. It hurt him that he couldn’t do anything to comfort him. He tried humming a tune, even if Will couldn’t hear it. He was alright with the thought that he did something to help. While thinking of Will, he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes, now surrounded by a different kind of darkness.

* * *

 

Nico’s eyes flew open when a loud noise erupted through his dreams. Will was home. Nico’s weary eyes glanced towards the clock; it was 8:00 pm. He then glanced around the room for company, but there was only Will. Nico’s mouth curled in relief. But then he felt guilty because Will did not look so happy. It was quiet, as quiet as when Will wasn’t here. Nico couldn’t hold back a gulp. Will rested his head on his palm and sat on the bed. He took in a large amount of air and released it in a larger exhale. The mood couldn’t be any tenser. He opened his mouth, and then…

Laughter.

No one could imitate the face that Nico made that very second. His expression changed very quickly though, into one of anger. How dare Will Solace play with his emotions. How dare Will Solace play with his heart. He glared at Will’s pretty face and beautiful eyes, which were filled with tears from laughing too hard. He looked away and cursed. He couldn’t stay angry at him, not while he was like this. He looked back at Will to see him a bit more composed. His laughter died until he was only chuckling. Then, it was silent again.

“Man, that was awkward,” Will’s voice pierced through the atmosphere again. “Worst. Date. Ever. And it wasn’t even my fault! She was just so boring. And, she’s never heard of the Avengers before! Can you believe that? Not my type. And I don’t even have a type! Wow.”

Will rocked back and forth and then fell right into the bed.  

“Well, I have nothing to do. And it’s still early. Might as well watch some TV.”

Will’s TV was located on a table. Luckily it was right in front of Nico, so he was able to watch TV as well.  

“Dang it… too late for Cartoon Network. Well, Adult Swim is not too bad.”

That was the last thing that came out of Will’s mouth before he nodded off. He fell fast asleep at exactly 11. Nico then settled himself for sleep as well and fell asleep at 1. He truly enjoyed watching TV with Will. He kept forgetting that he wasn’t really there next to Will. But within the thirty years he had been trapped, Nico learned to cherish what he had.

* * *

 

Will was assigned another day off. He was angry and practically yelled into the phone. He even tried to go to the hospital himself, before the poor person on the other side of the phone managed to convince him. He huffed and marched into his room.

“Why? Why would they give me another day? I’m rested! I’m relaxed! I’m good! I don’t need another day off!”

Nico internally thanked Will’s fellow workers. He, like them, believed that Will needed two days off.

“Oh well,” Will’s frustration cooled, “at least it’s a paid day off.”

He stood in front of the mirror and struck some poses. He flexed his muscles. He pouted and made kissy faces. Nico chuckled a bit.

“This day… is all about you!” Will finger-gunned the mirror.

“Oh boy.” Nico was smiling.

“Wait just a second.” Will ran downstairs and then came back into the room with a book. Nico peered at the cover.

“Joke… book? Oh no.”

“Time to try out some jokes and such I guess!” Will sat down on the bed and cleared his throat.

“Why did the cookie cry?” Silence. “Because his mother was _a wafer_ so long!” Will frowned. “That was kinda sad… okay anyways, next joke!” Will flipped the page. “What do you give a sick bird?” Silence. “ _Tweetment!_ ” Will snorted. “What’s brown and sticky?” Silence. “A stick. Wow, that was-“

There was laughter. It was soft, but it was there. Nico couldn’t hold back, that joke was so _stupid_ that he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t even sit up straight anymore; he was rolling around until he was out of breath. He was in such a distracted state that he didn’t notice Will glancing around. He didn’t notice Will standing up and walking slowly towards the mirror. He didn’t notice him sitting down right in front of the mirror.

“Hello?”

The laughter stopped instantly. Nico’s heart skipped a beat.

“Is anyone there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt motivated to write again while watching Cryaotic play Okami. I'm weird. And sleep deprived.


	3. Because you crack me up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Will is a klutz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh hi. Just wanted to say that if you have any prompts you want me to write, you can come over to my tumblr. The links in my bio, or you can just type in my user. Yup. I'm telling you this because I'm hella lonely and I just want to do things in my life. Sorry for the self-advertising.

The room remained silent for two straight hours. Will was persistent and wouldn’t move an inch from his place in front of the mirror. He strained his ears to find any more noise lingering, but there were none. Because inside the mirror, Nico was like a statue, literally frozen in fear. Will tilted his head confusedly, he could have sworn he heard something. Yes, he heard the most endearing giggle after telling that god-awful joke. One would be surprised after hearing something from nowhere, but for Will, it wasn’t the first time he heard that voice. At first, it was just mumbling, but at times when he was not having a good day, there was melodious humming. Will was so captivated by it that he tried to recreate that tune yesterday. I mean, if this… presumably human being was trying to comfort him, then they shouldn’t be evil right? And there’s nothing better than making a new friend.

“Hey… sorry if I scared you before but I really mean no harm. I just want to talk to you. If it makes you feel better, I _kinda_ knew you were here a while ago, I just wasn’t completely sure. Also I don’t know where you are. Are you outside or inside? I won’t call the police on you if you just explain your situation, promise. Just… talk to me, buddy?” Will looked down at his thumbs, which were pressed together in an act of disquietedness. “Come on,” Will persisted, “please?”

It was still dreadfully quiet and Will felt regret. Because of his little scare, the voice will probably never speak again. He sighed and unfolded his legs, but immediately fell. His legs were wobbly from sitting for too long and he couldn’t stand up. He wriggled around for a while, but was unable to straighten his legs. His face grew hot from the thought that the stranger was probably watching his pathetic state. His frustration caused him to swear deafeningly. Filthy word after word tumbled out of his mouth, which caused Nico to stir uncomfortably. That language was not unfamiliar, he heard it in exchanges between couples and such and disliked the air that it gave. The memories of those times gave him shivers.

“Please…”

Will couldn’t hear him. He finally quavered his way up to a standing position and tried to walk. He stumbled and fell right into the nightstand. He screamed in pain, along with many strings of curse words.

“MOTHERF-”

“STOP!”

Will’s mouth flew shut.

“Just… stop saying those words, _please._ ”

Will bit his lip, “… sorry.”

Nico groaned and cradled his head in his arms. His head throbbed uncontrollably.

“Ow… “

Will stood up firmly, his legs suddenly stable. “Are you okay?”

“Just a headache I guess,” the voice replied.

Will shuffled around with unease. He wondered what the voice was thinking right now. They probably thought he was an idiot.

“So.”

Will perked up.

“First of all, aren’t surprised at all that someone, who _you can’t see_ , is currently communicating with you?”

Will shook his head.

“And how did you know that I can see you?”

Will shrugged. Nico sighed quite loudly.

“You said that you were wondering where I am right now.” Nico cleared his throat. Will noticed that the voice was raspy, which worried him a bit. “Please try to believe me, but I’m… in the mirror.”

Will choked on spit. “Wh-what?”

“For years I was trapped in here, being sold to absolute strangers because of a curse that cannot be broken. I didn’t notice that people could actually hear me from here.” Nico laughed dryly. “But even if I tried to talk to people, they probably wouldn’t have taken it as well as you did.”

“Uh… sorry,” was the only thing Will could say.

“What are you apologizing for? None of this is your fault, Will.”

Will gulped, his name sounded really good in his voice.

“So you know I’m Will, but I don’t know who you are. That’s totally fair.”

Nico snorted. “What use would you have for my name?”

Will raised an eyebrow. “So I can call you something, other than ‘the voice’ in my head and in real life. Or what, you like being called that?”

“It’s Nico,” a clearly defeated voice said.

Will grinned. “Nico. Niiico. Neeks.”

“Please just... no.”

Will sat down again in front of the mirror and gazed into it, trying to find any trace of a human, but he could only find his reflection.

“So tell me about yourself, Nico.”

“Do I have too?”

“Yes.”

“Fine.”

Will heard movement but saw none. Nico was probably settling himself into a more relaxed position. “I was born a loooong time ago. I forgot my birthday. I only remember bits and pieces about my family and friends. I most likely didn’t have and friends though, because I’m such a _wonderful_ person as you can tell.”

“You’re not that bad,” Will interrupted.

“Yeah well, you only knew me for what, five minutes? Even I don’t have the ability to get people to hate me in five minutes. It takes only a bit longer, just you wait. Anyways, as I was saying, I don’t remember much about my past. Most of my memories are of other people. I don’t even remember what I look like anymore. How Ironic.” Nico’s lip started to tremble and Will seemed to notice. He stood up again frantically.

“Wait here a sec, okay?”

Will bolted down and up the stairs once more, this time carrying a cloth.

“I just noticed that your, uh, glass was dirty. I’ll wipe the dirt off real quick.”

Nico eyes widened, appalled with Will’s altruism. All of his other owners left him to gain layers and layers of dust. It was a first that anyone cared about his wellbeing.

“Thanks…”

“You’re welcome, Neeks.”

Will scrubbed and scrubbed but the screen didn’t seem to get any cleaner. Will put in a little more pressure in his fingertips and tried again.

“Y’know Neeks-”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Y’know _Neeks,_ it’s been more than five minutes and I’m not mad at you. I bet that we would bicker a bit from time to time, but I would never hate you. I bet you’re thinking: how do I know that? Well, I can’t really hate people; especially people in mirrors. Especially people in mirrors that like to sing.”

“I bet you like singing more than I do.”

“How do you know?”

“I heard you. Every morning. In the shower.”

“… oh.”

Nico laughed, and in that very moment, Will felt like his ears were blessed with something beautiful. But the merriment was gone in an instant, and was then followed by a tense stillness.

“Wait a minute… why are you talking like… like-”

“Like what?”

“Like we’re friends?”

Will managed to be able grab eye contact with Nico, even when he couldn’t see him. He gazed right into him with a serious look on his face. “Because we are,” he stated, like it was a fact.

Nico sputtered. “B-but we just met! How are we friends?”

Will just laughed while muttering, “Because I said so.”

A warm, foreign feeling bloomed inside Nico. He felt like he was glowing compared to the oblivion that surrounded him. He never felt so _loved_ and felt so much _love_ in all his years of being in this mirror. It made him vulnerable and filled with new emotions that gave him the true feeling of being _alive._

“Are you crying?” Will’s anxious voice cut through his thoughts cleanly. He didn’t realize that he was sniffling until now.

“No…” was all Nico could muster. Will’s eyebrows were pulled together and his mouth was curved downwards at the sides. His want of comforting the crying Nico overwhelmed him. He placed his palm against the mirror and winced thinking his handprint would ruin the once-clean mirror. But a handprint didn’t remain. His hand went right through the screen. Nico jolted. Will stumbled.

“H-how?”

“Never mind that; Nico, grab my hand, hurry!”

Nico hesitated for the smallest fraction of a second. His mind was nothing but thoughts of the outside world: of the fresh breezes that went through the trees, the too blue sky above, of laughter, of tears; and of the radiant sun. The radiant sun that was Will Solace himself. He grabbed Will’s hand and felt his whole body being pulled. He reflexively closed his eyes as he was heading into a blinding light.

* * *

 

Will Solace fell onto his behind once again, but this time, he was holding an ebony haired boy in his arms. He had thick, dark eyelashes that were more visible with his currently closed eyes. His skin was as pale as a wilting lily and his clothes were barely clinging onto him. It was obvious that Nico was in a worrisome state. He let out a small groan and curled up against Will like a small kitten, appreciating the heat that he longed for pressed against him.

“So… warm. I missed this.” Nico opened his glossy brown eyes and gave the smallest of smiles. Will simpered back; he missed this too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the slow update. I have mood swings that cause me to lose motivation in things so occasionally, updating will be slow. I also apologize about how rushed this seems.


	4. To catch them is my real test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nico and Will are nerds with phones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokémon and Pokémon Go does not belong to me yada yada yada.

Will was sitting in a canoe upon a crystal lake. The gentle rocking and the singing of the birds calmed his soul and cleared his mind. With influence from the tranquility of the area, he began to play a tune from a ukulele he had brought on board. He closed his eyes to fully immerse himself into the chimerical ambience. The canoe rocked stronger, Will didn't bat an eyelash. The canoe rocked harder, Will ignored it. The canoe shook and lurched, throwing Will nearly overboard. His eyes were open and gazing at stormy seas. An enormous wave was gaining height and was slowly advancing towards the canoe. Will yelped and started using his hands to paddle away, but he was not fast enough. The wave caught up with him and swept him up. He was being thrashed around this way and that. He was going to drown, he was going to-

"Will, wake up!"

Will's eyes slowly blinked open. He stared right into deep brown eyes that were twinkling unusually. He was smiling, which shocked him enough to bolt up into a sitting position.

"Nico?" Nico nodded his head adorably.

"Yup, it's me. Sorry to wake you up, but this is really important."

"What's up?" Nico shoved his smartphone into Will's face. Will took it away from Nico to get a proper view. He looked over at Nico, who was still grinning.

"Pokémon... Go?" Nico's head shook wildly as he bounced around the bed.

"Can you believe it? I've been waiting for this for such a long time... this seems like a dream to me." Nico's eyes darted towards Will. "Can you punch me, or pinch me? Just do anything, just to see if I've been dreaming or not."

Will couldn't help but smile along with Nico. He was such a dork, fanboying over a game like this. He had to admit, he was delighted as well. He loved Pokémon as much as Nico did. He even was the one who introduced Nico to Pokémon. It was like love at first sight for Nico. He especially had a soft spot towards the dark and ghost types, like Houndoom and Banette. Will personally liked the fire and fairy types, like Arcanine and Chansey. Nico often called him a sissy for liking the soft and cuddly creatures, but they were additionally beneficial in aiding other Pokémon and Will held that to high regard.

"It seems like they only have the Kanto 151. Sucks, but it's a good start." Nico turned around to grab Will's phone to pass it over to him. "I already downloaded the app for you, you're welcome."

"Thanks death boy."

He stared at his phone in disbelief for a while, then he logged in. A man named Professor Willow appeared and gave him an opportunity to name and create his character. He explained the information needed to play the game. Afterwards, he entered an area that strangely resembled his surroundings. Suddenly, three Pokémon showed up: a Bulbasaur, a Squirtle, and a Charmander.

"Wait... I have to choose one? Just one?"

"Yup, just like the original games. I chose Charmander by the way, Charizard for the win!"

"If you chose Charmander," Will grinned evilly, "then I'll choose Squirtle."

"Pulling a "rival" on me huh? I see how it is." Nico stuck out his tongue. Will tapped on the Squirtle and was thrusted into a battle. The small blue creature was right in front of him, on his bed. Will gasped.

"It's... it's-"

"Right there," Nico said knowingly, gazing affectionately towards his gleeful significant annoyance.

"How do I catch it?" Nico leaned over to look at Will's phone screen.

"You flick the Pokéball on your screen at it." Will nodded and carefully placed his finger on the Pokémon and moved it upwards. The Pokéball flew and landed on top of the Squirtle. It was then sucked right into the Pokéball in a flash of bright light. It shook once, twice, and a third time. Stars flew. He had caught it.

"YES! I CAUGHT IT!" He hugged Nico in ecstasy. Nico let his arms dangle for a while, but then reluctantly raised them to hug him back.

* * *

 

Will and Nico were walking together around the neighborhood while holding their cellphones. They were pale from sunscreen and were wearing geeky Pokémon hats, but they could care less about how they looked. They were hunting for Pokémon and that was all that mattered.

"Hey, Nico!" A familiar voice called.

"Hazel!"

Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang ran towards them.

"You lovebirds out here for a date?" Hazel asked, with a glimmer in her eye.

"I bet they're out here to catch Pokémon," Frank announced, lips curling and arms crossed. Hazel gasped.

"We're out here to catch Pokemon too!" Frank smiled.

"Did you find anything rare?" Nico shrugged.

"We've only been out here for a bit. Just Ratata and Pidgey around here," Will said.

"Well, we found some Slowpokes around the lake. Also some Eevees and Doduos. You can get eggs from Pokéstops too if you can't find anything you like."

Frank placed his hand on Nico's shoulder. "Good luck on your journey to become the very best, like no one ever was." Nico smirked wittingly.

"You always know the right thing to say Frank. Thanks. Good luck to you too, fellow Pokémon master."

After some small talk, Hazel and Frank left to continue on their Pokémon journey. Nico and Will decided to head towards the lake.

"Oh, an Eevee."

"A Magikarp. Great."

"Well you do need a lot of them to get a Gyarados."

"True," Will sighed. Nico bumped him with his elbow encouragingly.

"Don't worry, as long as we keep walking around, we'll be able to evolve some of our Pokémon eventually. I for one, am aiming for a Vaporeon." Will bumped him back.

"I'm gonna get an Arcanine, just you wait."

They both shared a moment of eye contact. And then, they continued to venture on to catch them all.

* * *

 

"Hey Neeks, I heard from Annabeth that Percy is a Gym Leader in Team Mystic."

"Oh, he's going _down_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently needing a break from the mirror fix, if you guys don't mind. Hope you like this little piece I typed on my phone.


	5. Mirror Joke Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nico is a smol fab child that needs to be protected and Will is as smooth as sandpaper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I couldn't stop laughing when I wrote this. Gods. I can't even. Why do I make everything so awkward? I probably have the Midas Touch of Awkward™ or something. And yes, this is the last chap of the thing I'm calling "Mirror Joke". Get it? Cause the chapter names made up one joke? No? Okay.

Will leaned on one foot and crossed his arms. His face was one of amusement, with a curled lip and lowered eyebrow. Dialogue and voices rang, stopped, and started again; with occasional screeches of static. Then it settled: the pale, ebony haired man found a channel that he was interested in. He gazed with curious wonder at the moving pictures, poking at the screen at times. His eyes were glowing brighter than the light emitting from the television screen and his mouth was slightly open. He suddenly gasped, as a character from the cartoon was hit and a “POW” filled the screen with flashing colors. Will stifled a chuckle. This poor man had never seen or touched a television in all his life. That was why he was inspecting all kinds of technology, with the same inquisitiveness as a child’s.

Nico stood up. He was bored. He needed to explore everything that this room had to offer. He looked over at Will and, with his eyes, he asked for permission. Will gave a small nod. In an instant, Nico took a few steps back and then leapt into the bed. He flew into the air a couple times, but soon he was enveloped into the mattress. He sighed rather loudly and snuggled into it. The blankets, the pillow, the mattress; it all smelled like Will. It was like lavender, herbs, deodorant, and coffee were all shoved into an incense, which was then lit. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t love this smell already. He rolled over and off the bed, he needed to resist the allure of the bed so that he would examine the rest of his room. But the remaining items didn’t impress Nico that much, so he skipped down the stairs to check out the rest of the house. Will followed him downstairs.

A “wow” echoed. Nico was pressing so many buttons and opening so many doors that Will was beginning to get irked. He shrieked when Nico almost blended and toasted his hands.

“Don’t touch that, Neeks!”

“C’mon, you’re going to break it!”

“Oh my gods!”

Will had to pick up Nico bridal style and throw him into the couch to calm him down. Nico recovered quickly but didn’t retaliate. He claimed that his “adventure” was over. Will heaved a weary sigh and Nico gazed at Will apologetically.

“… Sorry Will, I guess I got a bit hyper.”

“Ya think?”

He was a tad irritated, but he knew that it wasn’t entirely Nico’s fault. He could never imagine himself being trapped in a small space for such a long time, but he knew that Nico must be feeling liberation, and Will didn’t want to rain on his parade.

“Hey, you wanna go out for some froyo?”

Nico cocked his head to the side.

“What’s froyo?”

Will let out a false gasp.

“Dude, you _need_ to try it. It’s a must-taste if you want to live in this century. Also,” Will looked Nico up and down, “let’s get you a new wardrobe. On me.”

* * *

 

The minute Nico stepped out into the outside world, he was hit with so much _noise._ The beeps, honks, and yelling shocked him. His head started to throb and he felt a bit dizzy.

“Are you okay?” Will gently nudged him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Same place, but different time, I’ll get used to it.”

The air even tasted different. It had a strange, smoky kind of flavor that didn’t sit well with him. He yelped whenever those automobile things roared by and avoided the peculiarly dressed and speaking strangers as much as possible. He was basically using Will as a shield the entire time they were walking past people.

They finally made it to a place that had see-through doors, and showed a few people lining up in front of small machines that projected an unfamiliar solid-looking substance. Within a few steps in front of the see-through doors, they pulled apart, which caused Nico to gape at Will questioningly.

“They’re automatic doors, y’know, with sensors and stuff.”

Nico didn’t get it.

Will showed him how to operate the froyo dispensers. He had so much fun pulling all the levers, that his cup was colorful with all the flavors. He even managed to grab every topping. As Will handed the cashier his credit card, Nico gazed at him victoriously. Will just patted Nico’s shoulder, even though secretly he was laughing on the inside.

The first bite of his froyo was indescribable. He regretted putting all those flavors together, but it still managed to taste amazing. It was cold, but melted quickly in his mouth; and soon afterwards, the bizarre taste flourished throughout him, and he couldn’t force down a smile that spread across his face.

“You like it that much?”

“Shut up, Solace.”

* * *

 

“So Nico, I’m giving you some freedom. We’re going to walk around this shopping mall and you can choose to go into whatever clothing store you are interested in.”

“Alright.”

They wandered around for some time, until Nico stopped abruptly. He heard a shrill voice, a guitar riff, and an earsplitting drumbeat. They were like siren calls to Nico. He desperately sprinted towards it, ignoring Will’s concerned calls, and found a pitch black store. He walked in without hesitation and was immediately entranced by the atmosphere the place gave off. He plowed through the entire store, grabbing t-shirts, jeans, and accessories. Will came in a few moments afterwards, but he couldn’t find Nico anywhere. He asked an employee if he had seen a skinny, pale, black haired man; the employee pointed towards the dressing rooms. Will smacked his head with his hand and raced into the dressing rooms. He asked another employee the same question and they gestured towards one room labeled “Nico”. Will face palmed once more. He walked up to the door and knocked it softly.

“Neeks? It’s me, Will.”

“Hold on, I’m almost done changing.”

Rustling could be heard from the other side. Then it was quiet.

“You can open the door now.”

Will turned the doorknob and pulled. The door flew open and there, on the other side, was Nico. He was wearing a twenty one pilots t-shirt and skinny jeans. They were both able to capture every curve of his chest and stomach; and his thighs and hips. Skulls decorated his fingers and wrists as rings and bracelets that shined when he twirled around a couple of times. While he was spinning, Will got a great view of his midriff. Suddenly, his shirt felt tight around his neck. He couldn’t believe that Nico was actually a tad muscular. Because of the baggy clothes that he wore before, he didn’t notice.

“So, how do I look? Be honest okay, you can straight out tell me that I look bad.” Nico shied away from Will’s glance.

“Y-you look great!” Will sputtered.

“Are you sure?” Nico eyed Will suspiciously. “You’ve been acting strange, and I’m telling you to be honest.”

_I’ve been acting weird cause you look too good… dam._

“Alright, if you want me to be honest… you look _amazing_. You look so _dam sexy_ that I should call the cops. It should be illegal to look this gorgeous. Heck, you were good-looking before but look at you now. You’re pulling this look off better than anyone that I have ever seen.”

“… Sexy?” Nico was practically glowing red. “I’m not…”

Will was also blushing.

“Yes you are. Now come on, we’re going home. If you’re going to wear that… _tight_ twenty one pilots t-shirt, I might as well introduce you to some of their songs.”

“Okay,” Nico mumbled.

* * *

 

Will couldn’t stop himself from putting one arm around his waist and pulling him close as they were making their way home. He heard Nico swallow, but otherwise, he didn’t do anything to stop the action. They were quiet, the only thing that they could hear was the shopping bag hitting against Will’s leg.

“My favorite top song is ‘House of Gold’ by the way,” Will broke the silence.

“Oh, top stands for twenty one pilots?”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“Do you want to listen to them now?”

Nico glanced curiously at Will.

“I can?”

“Yeah, check this out.”

Will reached into his pocket and grabbed his cellphone. He thanked himself internally for bringing earbuds with him when he left. He inserted the plug into the hole at the end of his phone and opened up an app. He tapped “shuffle” and gave one earbud to Nico. Will pressed one earbud inside his right ear, and Nico mimicked the action with his earbud in his left ear. Nico was once again awestruck when he could hear a man singing along with ukulele playing. He took out the earbud and heard silence. He pressed the earbud inside his ear again and heard the song. Nico looked over at Will, feeling pleased with this new discovery. Will looked back at Nico and felt blessed because Nico was content. So the two of them strolled along with happy thoughts and top in their minds (oh, and each other. They’re definitely thinking about each other, no doubt).

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? twenty seven helicopters? Never heard of them.


End file.
